Moonless Night
by ill at ease
Summary: Just a cute little oneshot. A young Van gets lost in the woods one night, and he's not alone. V&H.


Here's my oneshot Escaflowne fic. It's my first ever Esca fic and my first ever oneshot, so be gentle.  
Mainly I wrote it to be cute and happy, so that's pretty much what it is. I hope you enjoy it.

(Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne or any of the character as such and whatnot.)

-

"Folken was not a coward!" Van screamed, his fist flying at the other boy. It slammed into his face with a force that surprised both children. The boy stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground. Van stood over him with clenched fists.

"If you ever say that again I'll chop your head off!" The young prince yelled. With that, he spun away from the wounded boy and ran.

Feet pounded on the hard packed dirt of Fanelian roads as Van ran, white hot rage obscuring any thoughts of where he was going. "He's not a coward. He's not a coward," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

It was late afternoon and the sun shown brightly down on the gardens of the castle. All of the castle windows were thrown wide open to let in the warm afternoon air. On the top floor, a maid was opening yet another of the castle's many windows. She leaned over the casement and breathed deep, inhaling the sweet flowery smell that wafted up from the gardens below. 

As she stood there, a small movement caught her eye. A small pink and tan blob was racing across the gardens, pausing briefly to look around shrubs and trees. The maid smiled, recognizing Merle, the four year old cat girl that had been a constant companion to Prince Van.

Merle's high pitched voice sliced through the air and rang in the maid's ears as clear as if she was standing right next to the child.

"Van-sama! Van-sama, where are you?" Merle stood still for a few seconds before bounding off towards the castle doors, apparently convinced Van was not in the gardens.

The maid frowned. The young prince had been going off by himself more and more often since the disappearance of his mother. It was the gossip of the entire castle, and everyone was worried. The royal family had always been kind to their servants, especially the Queen. She had taught both of her children well and her kindness had clearly been passed on to her sons.

"Mina!" the maid at the window turned to see another woman standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Are you done yet? We still have to clean the dinning hall."

"I'm coming," Mina answered, turning away from the window. Whatever was plaguing the prince would have to be dealt with by those closer to him, so there was nothing Mina could do. Besides, there was work to be done.

* * *

Deep in the woods outside of Fanalia, a hunched over figure sat at the base of a tree, his head resting on his arms. The shadows made by the canopy of leaves above slowly grew darker as the evening approached. Even in the dimming light, the tattered state of his clothing and dirt stained face that marked the careless journey through the woods were visible. The young prince was silent. No sob of sorrow left his lips.

"I mustn't cry," he thought. "I promised mother I'd be strong. She saw me crying when brother left and didn't think I could be strong enough, so she left too. I have to prove how strong I am. I mustn't cry."

He repeated these thoughts in his head over and over again. In the past few months, this had become his mantra. Don't cry. Be strong. Usually it was an easy rule to live by. There were only rare occasions when it truly felt difficult. Occasions like this.

Don't cry. Be strong. Don't cry. Be strong.

Evening slowly faded into night, and still Van did not move. Don't cry. Be strong.

* * *

Someone was crying. Van hadn't been sure of what the sound was at first, thinking it was some sort of wild animal, but now he could clearly make out the sounds of someone's frightened sobs. Gathering his courage, Van crawled out from the hiding place he had taken refuge in a few hours earlier. His eyes had adjusted to the dim light of the night, but he could still only make out rough shapes.

Slowly, Van made his way towards the source of the noise. Soon, Van found what he was looking for. A young child was huddled at the base of a tree, clutching something that was hanging around her neck.

"Wh-who-who's there?" she choked out between sobs.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," Van said. "Are you lost?" The girl nodded her head. "Me too," Van said, stepping closer. "It's ok though. I bet lots of people are looking for me, so we just have to stay in one spot and they'll find us." Van tried to sound confident. After all, he was a Prince and it was his job to take care of people. If this girl was scared, it was his job to reassure her.

The girl's shoulders began to shake with the force of new sobs. "I want my mommy," she cried. "I'm scared and I want to go home."

Van didn't know what to do. He thought about the times when he had cried and about what made him feel better. Sitting down beside the lost girl, he wrapped his arms around her. Slowly, the sobs began to subside. Soon, the girl had fallen asleep, one hand faithfully secured around her necklace, the other clutching Van's shirt sleeve. Van stayed where he was, afraid that if he moved she would wake up.

He didn't mind having to hold the girl. It helped him stay calm, knowing he wasn't alone and knowing he had a job to do. His eyes began to droop as the night went on and soon, he too was fast asleep.

­­­­­­­­­

* * *

"Prince Van! Prince Van!"

Van cracked open one eye at the sound of his name. He was still in the woods, but something was different. The girl was gone. Both eyes flew open as Van looked around himself frantically for the girl. Instead, he saw Balgus running towards him.

"Prince Van, thank goodness you're safe. We've been searching for you for a very long time."

Van continued to look around, searching for the lost girl, but she was nowhere in sight.

* * *

"Hitomi, it's time to wake up."

Hitomi heard her mother's calling from downstairs and she almost started crying out of relief. She was home again. She looked around, expecting to see the nice boy who had kept her company that night, but she was alone in her room.

She frowned. "I wish I could have said thank you," she muttered.

The End!

* * *

A/N: Sorry if the last three breaks are kind of . . . . crappy. It's 4:00 am here and I haven't had any sleep yet. I just wanted to finish up this story while I was still in a writing mood. (Especially considering the fact that it's a one shot and I started it several months ago. It should not have taken this long to finish.) 


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